Arteta says Madueke 'gutted' after knee injury
Mikel Arteta revealed that Noni Madueke was “gutted” after suffering a knee injury during the Gunners' Premier League clash against Manchester City.
The winger was substituted at half-time during Arsenal's 1-1 draw with City, as the Gunners rescued a point through a stoppage-time equaliser from Gabriel Martinelli.
Madueke is yet to register a direct goal involvement in six competitive matches for Arsenal, but has shown plenty of promise during Bukayo Saka’s time out due to a hamstring problem.
The England international is set to be out for “a few weeks”, seeing him miss the start of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup campaign.
Reports of Madueke’s injury suggested he could miss up to two months of action, but when asked if it was a matter of weeks rather than months, Arteta responded: “We hope so.
“It looks like he's going to be out for a few weeks. We don't know yet, we're probably going to have to scan him next week again.
“He felt something at the beginning of the match, he tried to carry on, and at half-time, he was too sore, so let’s see.
“He was gutted, obviously. Very disappointing to see because he was in such a good state.
“He looked like a real threat; he was getting some consistency, some flow into the team and he looked like a real threat, so it's a big miss for us.”
Arsenal faces Porto Vale in the Carabao Cup on Thursday.
The Gunners have progressed from 17 of their last 18 Carabao Cup ties against sides from the third or fourth tiers of English football, failing only in the 2012-2013 quarter-final when they lost a penalty shootout to League Two Bradford City.
Port Vale has progressed from just one of 13 previous League Cup ties against top-flight opponents, beating Notts County via the away goals rule over two legs in the 1991-1992 second round.
Arteta is set to make several changes from the side that faced City, with Kepa Arrizabalaga in line to make his competitive debut for the Gunners.
“Yes, it's a lot of players that are going to take part in that, and they fully deserve the minutes,” Arteta said. “Kepa, for sure, is one of them. He's been with us, his attitude, the way he supports us in every aspect of his role in the best possible manner.
“All this as well, they deserve more minutes than what they're getting.”
